"I wish," he said aloud, "that I knew whether Mr. Fox is really dead.
He lies so still I believe he is, and if he lies there much longer I
shall have to go down and see. Yes, I'll have to go down and poke him
and see!"

Brushtail the Fox could scarcely keep from smacking his lips when
Chatty said this, but he did not move, of course. He lay perfectly
still, not even winking an eye, for he was very hungry, and he hoped
Chatty Squirrel would decide to hurry and come down.

And all the time that Chatty Squirrel up in the tree was scolding,
Doctor Rabbit was working at something in the near-by thicket. Chatty,
you see, was going to keep Brushtail's attention until Doctor Rabbit
played a good joke on old Brushtail.




BRUSHTAIL GETS A SCARE


Now, this was what Doctor Rabbit was doing in the near-by thicket. He
gathered some moss, and rolled it into a big ball. Then he took a
bottle of medicine from his medicine case. The bottle had ammonia in
it--spirits of ammonia, it was--and Doctor Rabbit poured the
medicine all over and through the big ball of moss.

My, but that ammonia smelled strong! I should say it _did_ smell
strong. It was so strong, in fact, that Doctor Rabbit had to turn his